REAL MADRID believe they can still land Xabi Alonso despite accusing Liverpool of being greedy and pricing the Spain international out of a move.

The Bernabeu club’s director general Jorge Valdano now says “everything can be turned around” just 24 hours after launching his attack on Liverpool’s transfer tactics.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has been unmoved by Valdano’s remarks that clubs inflate fees for players when Madrid are interested.

And with the player still having three years left on his contract, it seems that the only way he will get his move to Real is by asking for a transfer – or if the Spanish club meet a €40 million-plus price tag.

Alonso wants his future sorted out before he is due to return to training at Liverpool on July 19th, and Madrid have made it clear they also want a speedy solution and will start to look elsewhere for a holding midfield player if there is no breakthrough in the next fortnight.

Valdano’s original comments were made in a Madrid newspaper article, and his claims that a deal could still be brokered were made in a Radio Marca interview yesterday.

In that same interview he claimed that Real were no longer interested in Valencia’s David Villa, Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas or Inter Milan’s Maicon.

Madrid have already signed four big-name players, and are still in the market for more – although at more modest prices than they paid for Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka.

Valdano said: “Everyone knows that Alonso is a player that we have always been interested in.

“He is someone that can organise and is in a phase of his career where he has matured.

“There was a rough figure put forward, but in recent days that has gone up and the price is now too high for our tastes and, therefore, we see the player further away now. But everything can be turned back around.”

Liverpool have agreed a deal to bring Paris St Germain full-back Chris Mavinga to the club on a three-year contract. The youngster is a French under-18 international.

Aston Villa have contacted Middlesbrough to discuss a possible double deal for Tuncay Sanli and Stewart Downing. Gareth Southgate, Middlesbrough’s manager, accepts that neither the Turkey forward nor the England left-winger relish the idea of playing their football in the Championship next season ahead of next summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa and is resigned to losing both players.